Vintage guitar destroyed by airline baggage handlers
Dave Schneider/Facebook
A US musician has posted pictures on Facebook revealing how his prized 1965 Gibson ES-335 guitar was badly damaged after Delta staff refused to allow him to carry it onboard his flight.
Dave Schneider, who is a guitarist and singer with rock band The LeeVees, posted pictures of his valuable guitar which was jammed in an elevator at Detroit Airport.
He wrote: "Musicians worst nightmare come true. Delta Airlines, next time I beg you not to make me check my 1965 Gibson ES335, please do so. You had the space, darn, darn, darn. The tale will be told once I stop getting the runaround from "Delta Corporate". BTW it got jammed in an ELEVATOR! That is a steel rail bending from a semi-hollow body being slammed/jammed in it."
Yahoo! News reports that Mr Schneider was travelling from Portland, Maine, to St Petersberg, Florida, for a gig when their flight was diverted due to bad weather, causing them to miss their connection. So they drove to Buffalo, N.Y., to get a plane to Detroit, Michigan, where they hoped to make a connecting flight to Tampa, Florida.
When boarding in Buffalo, he asked Delta staff not to check in the vintage guitar, which is worth around £6,000, so that he could carry it on the plane as he did on his previous flight.
He told Yahoo! News: "I've always carried it on. Never been a problem before."
However, Delta staff refused, and he had no alternative but to check it in.
He says that when his plane landed in Detroit he had a "bad feeling" so he took out his iPhone and started filming as he waited at the gate for his guitar.
As he waited he said that he could hear a screeching noise coming from the elevator.
He said: "It was this crazy sound. Metal on metal."
It turned out that his guitar case was stuck between the mobile service elevator and a rail on the loading dock. It took two members of staff an hour to retrieve the damaged guitar and Mr Schneider says that repairs will cost over £1,000.
He told Yahoo! News that the airline offered him a cheque for £600, but he refused as he didn't know at that stage how much repairs would cost. He claims that, so far, two emails he sent to Delta chief executive Richard Anderson have gone unanswered. He says that he's only seeking enough compensation to cover the cost of repairs.
Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant told Yahoo! News: "This instance is certainly not indicative of the high regard we hold for our customers' property when they travel with us, and for that, we apologise. We look forward to making a direct and sincere apology to the customer as we work with him to rectify what happened."
Click on the image below for some incredible views from plane windows...
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